U-46 board extends CEO, interim superintendent contracts

Elgin Area School District U-46 CEO Tony Sanders will continue to lead the state's second-largest district, with help from interim superintendent Kenneth Arndt.

The U-46 school board earlier this week approved contract extensions for both men - Sanders for another three years, Arndt for one year.

Sanders will receive a 2.75 percent increase to his base salary of $210,000 in the first year of the new contract starting July 1, with the same increase at the beginning of the following two school years unless the school board hikes up the raise.

"He's done a wonderful job (as CEO)," school board President Donna Smith said Wednesday.

Arndt will be paid $650 per day for a maximum of 100 days - as allowed by the state pension code for retirees - between July 1 and June 30, 2016, per the contract. He will not receive any other compensation or benefits except for reimbursement of expenses. Beyond fulfilling the legal requirements of a superintendent, Arndt has been involved in cabinet meetings, budget preparation and employee hiring, Smith said.

The district's search for a new superintendent could resume once five newly elected school board members are seated next month. Several of those new board members cited hiring a superintendent as their top priority during the campaign.

"That was the reason we put it off this year," Smith said. "Eventually we will need something permanent."

Once a new superintendent is hired, Sanders will return to his previous role as chief of staff, in which capacity he was making more than $170,000 yearly.

Smith said officials are looking into the possibility of keeping Sanders on as superintendent.

"The board as a whole would like to have the option of Tony at least being a candidate when we search," she said.

Yet Sanders lacks the teaching credentials and experience required for that job.

Sanders, 45, of Elgin, took the helm after former superintendent José Torres resigned last August to head Aurora-based Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. While he covets the superintendent's job, Sanders said he has obstacles to getting certified.

"I do want to be the next leader of U-46, but I do not have that superintendent endorsement," Sanders said. "I would have to go back to school for a teaching certificate and teach for two years, then become a principal, and then that would make me eligible to become a superintendent. There is no alternative program for certification."

Sanders could get a Chief School Business Official Endorsement, which would make him eligible to take the superintendent's certification test.

"I really haven't thought about that yet," he said. "If they do a (superintendent) search, I hope to be able to apply."